Cycles, monsters today invading Angels' home

Jan. 7, 2011

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Crews at Angel Stadium prepare the field for Supercross motorcycle racing, which begins Saturday. For the next six weeks through Feb. 12, the stadium will be home to motorcycle racing and Monster Truck events. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The parking lot of Angel Stadium is filling up with trucks and RVs as teams and riders prepare for the return of AMA Supercross motorcycle racing Saturday. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A rider walks his motocycle back through the parking lot after a test run Friday afternoon before the kickoff of the AMA Supercross season, which begins on Saturday in Anaheim and runs through May. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The field of Angel Stadium is transformed for motorcycle racing and Monster Truck events for six weeks each January and February. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A giant poster in the parking lot of Angel Stadium promotes rider Brett Metcalfe. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Some 500 truckloads of dirt are brought in to form the bumps, jumps and turns of the AMA Supercross track. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Crews at Angel Stadium prepare the field for Supercross motorcycle racing, which begins Saturday. For the next six weeks through Feb. 12, the stadium will be home to motorcycle racing and Monster Truck events. ERIC CARPENTER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – The annual transformation of Angel Stadium from baseball diamond to motorsports Mecca was nearly complete Friday as crews worked to finalize the course for Saturday's kickoff event.

Gates are set to open for the AMA Supercross motorcycle race at 12:30 p.m. Saturday with the main event revving up at 7 p.m.

Over the next six weeks, the stadium is all about motorcycles and monster trucks.

In December, the Angels sold off squares of the baseball field turf as a fundraiser before digging it all up to make way for the mounds of soil.

Some 500 truckloads of dirt were trucked in through the right-field gate to form a track full of sharp turns, challenging bumps and steep jumps. Bulldozers were still putting the finishing touches on the track Friday afternoon.

"There's a lot of excitement heading into this season, because we expect it to be one of the most competitive we've ever had," said Denny Hartwig, a spokesman for Feld Motor Sports, which organizes the race.

The sport has become a tradition at Angel Stadium since the first dirt motorcycle race there in 1976.

Saturday's event is the kickoff to the Supercross season, which runs through May. The series heads to Phoenix, to Dodger Stadium and to Oakland before roaring back into Angel Stadium on Feb. 5.

Next week, the dirt on the field will be realigned to prepare it for the Monster Jam Truck events, which will be held Jan. 15 and 29 and Feb. 12.

After that, the mounds of dirt are trucked back out to the parking lot, compacted and stored under a tarp. The field will be leveled and new sod laid in time for the return of baseball on March 27.

Bryan Perez, 32, of Buena Park, came out a day before the race to pick up his tickets and get a sneak peek at the race team's trucks and RVs setting up in the parking lot under the iconic Big A.

"It's a great way to start the year," he said. "These guys are the best in the (racing) business. You hear the buzz of those bike engines and it just gets me pumped."

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